Over the past few decades, technology has revolutionized the way colleges and universities operate. This study examines the extent to which investments in information technology (IT) are associated with the number and types of higher education personnel. After accounting for time lags between IT funding and personnel changes, we found that…

The use of stenography writing has in the recent past been faced with challenges about how, where, and when it is appropriate to be used in the teaching and learning process. The main objective of the study is to determine whether stenography writing has any major impact on the writing ability of students and their academic performance. The study…

This paper considers the application of a professional reflective journal to support the role of the clerk to the college governing body in England. Background detail regarding the role of the 'clerk to the corporation' in England is provided. The paper explains the basis for the formation of a reflective journal using a critical incident analysis…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics play an important role in shaping the economies of countries. It is now well documented that females are underrepresented in these fields. This study examines whether gender differences exist in Lebanon with regard to the career choices of boys and girls at the secondary school level. Three hundred…

It was investigated how domain-specific knowledge, fluid intelligence, vocational interest and work-related self-efficacy predicted domain-specific problem-solving performance in the field of office work. The participants included 100 German VET (vocational education and training) students nearing the end of a 3-year apprenticeship program as an…

Occupations differ in their prestige, but little research has examined how workers manage working in a low-prestige occupation. This case study with retail-clerk apprentices in Switzerland uncovers the identity strategies the apprentices employ to help them normalise the situation they find themselves in: they are learning an occupation that is…

Most learning in the workplace occurs while pursuing working rather than learning goals. The studies at hand aimed to identify task characteristics that foster learning in the workplace. Task characteristics are supposed to exert a major effect on the learning potential. However, the fact that learning is more often than not a rather unconscious…

The primary focus of this research is the impact of wages on the decision not to continue with an apprenticeship or traineeship. The approach taken is to model three wages relevant to apprentices and trainees: the wage during training; the expected wage in alternative employment; and, the expected wage on completion. The results of these models…

Responses from 55 personnel directors of Fortune 500 companies (15%) found that clerical office professionals should have knowledge of and be able to use facsimile, voice mail, and electronic mail. They recommended that educators and employers form an alliance to ensure that relevant telecommunications concepts are taught. (JOW)

Conducted meta-analyses of validity coefficients from tests of clerical abilities for five criteria (supervisor ratings, supervisor rankings, work samples, production quantity, production quality). Found ratings, rankings, work samples, and production quantity to all result in high test validities. Fifth criterion, production quality, had low…

A survey of 429 secretarial/clerical trainers received 191 responses emphasizing that postsecondary office systems curricula should focus on communication and human relations skills, technology-related applications, telephone techniques, transcription, and keyboarding accuracy. (SK)

This study examined the extent to which high school office occupations students developed job-related reading skills, particularly proofreading, verifying, and comprehending detail. The study revealed definite weaknesses in development of these skills required for effective job performance. (SK)

This study was conducted to determine whether previous findings in role perception studies could be extended to a sample of clerical and secretarial employees. Three hypotheses testing the ambiguity-satisfaction relationship and the moderating effects of cohesiveness and degree of routinization in role requirements were examined. (Author/CT)

Interviews with 6 managers and 18 nonmanagers in clerical-administrative positions indicated the following: (1) they saw their role as either intelligent support, technical, advisor, or multiskilled pivotal employee; (2) duties depended on relationships with other workers; and (3) nonmanagers had a narrower vision of competence. (SK)

Interviews with nine clerical/support staff in a university extension department show how higher education has neglected valuable constituency of learners by restrictively defining and poorly supporting professional development for support staff. As a learning organization, the university should encourage and develop all employees. (SK)